Collapsible luggage



July 9, 1957 B. B. FOX

COLLAPSIBLE LUGGAGE Filed May 9, 1955 "TINVENTOR.

BO B. FOX

ATTORNEY United States Patent COLLAPSIBLE LUGGAGE Boni B. Fox, River Edge, N. J.

Application May 9, 1955, Serial No. 506,775

1 Claim. (Cl. 190-43) This invention relates to luggage and more particularly to handbags, hat-boxes and similar articles.

Handbags present quite a problem from the viewpoint of storage, particularly in traveling. A woman traveling is limited to the number of bags that she can carry because of the space they take up in suitcases and other luggage.

An object of this invention is to provide a handbag or similar type of luggage which may be collapsed and readily stored without taking up the space of the conventional bag but which may be expanded to furnish the room and carrying capacity of a conventional bag.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bag of the character described which may be designed in any form or shape and which may be constructed of leather, fabric or plastic material.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the accompanying drawings and following description.

In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of handbag embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the frame collapsed.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of another form of frame collapsed.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the frame collapsed.

Fig. 5 is a side view of the frame open.

Fig. 6 is a detail of the leg taken on the line 66 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a detail of the leg taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 5, slightly enlarged.

Referring more particularly to the drawings the bag 10 may be of any shape and may be made of leather, suede, fabric or plastic. A frame is provided between the outer material of the bag and the lining which will conform in shape to the bag in the open position. In Fig. 2 I have shown a rectangular frame 11 in the collapsed position. Fig. 5 shows the frame in open position.

The frame consists of an upper member or rim 14 and a lower member or rim 15. These are connected by jointed legs 16 and 17 hinged together at 18. The leg 16 is hinged at 19 to the frame 14 while the leg 17 is hinged to the frame 15 at 20. The hinge 20 is provided with a hook 21 and the leg 16 is provided with a hook 22. A spring 23 engages the hooks 21 and 22 under slight tension. The hook 22 has a back projection 24 which engages the upper end 25 of the leg 17 when the frame is in the open position to limit the movement of the legs 16 and 17.

Normally, the bag will have four leg units, but the number may be increased or decreased in accordance with the design of the bag. These leg units may be placed in opposite position or may be spaced as shown in Fig. 2, depending upon the design of the bag.

It will be appreciated that while describing the invention the word handbag has been used, the structure is equally applicable to hat boxes and other types of luggage where it is desired to reduce the space they occupy when empty.

I claim:

A collapsible frame for'handbags comprising a pair of rigid members connected together by a plurality of pairs of legs, the legs of each pair being hinged to the frame and pivoted to each other, one of said legs having a hook adjacent to the pivoted end and the other leg having a hook adjacent to the hinge connection to the frame, a spring under tension engaging each pair of said hooks to urge said legs into rigid position, a projection on said first mentioned hook engageable by said second leg to limit the movements of said pivot in the rigid position but disengaging when said legs are folded against the tension of the spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,710,084 Braverman June 7, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 580,515 Great Britain Oct. 5, 1945 

